This proposal is submitted in response to RFA NR-04-002, Nursing Research Core Center Grants. We propose to expand our Exploratory Center into a Core Center on Self and Family Management for Vulnerable Populations at the Yale School of Nursing. Self-management today encompasses a broad range of health, lifestyle, behavioral, and self-assessment and treatment activities practiced by an individual, in the context of the family, and with the support of others, often nurses. Self-management is a dynamic means of maintaining health rather than the submission to prescribed orders implied by the term compliance. We believe that the Center will make significant contributions to the understanding, development, and testing of self management interventions for people who are vulnerable to developing health problems through risky behaviors, age, gender, minority status, or the presence of disease or disability. The Center will promote synergy among investigators and multiple interdisciplinary collaborators through the use of shared resources, increasing communication, developing young scholars, and developing knowledge in self-management interventions. The Center will be under the direction of senior researchers, and will be directed by Dr. Margaret Grey. Faculty from the School of Nursing as well as faculty from across the University and an External Advisory Committee will assist with the Center's development. The Center will house Administrative, Methodologic Support, Outcomes, and Vulnerable Populations Cores.